Student Athlete of the Week: Lucas Menza

From his work inside the classroom to both of his demanding extracurriculars, few high school students are as well-rounded as Lucas Menza.

A junior at Twin Peaks Classical Academy in Longmont, Menza wrestles for Niwot High School and plays violin in the Longmont Youth Symphony. The multi-talented Menza values his two after-school passions highly, but wrestling earned his undivided attention on Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Niwot Invitational.

Menza wrestled in the 175-pound division and won his second of three matches, pinning Fort Morgan High School's Aiden Meraz Chavez in the first round of the consolation bracket.

"I was really locked in," Menza said. "It was good because I got to work on some shots and got to work on the technique I've been doing in practice. I felt more confident because I was able to put into practice what I've been working on, setting up my shots, being more technical, more aggressive, and trying to use that in the matches."

While Menza later fell to Holy Family High School's Peter Pham in the second round of the consolation bracket, he feels good about his junior season's trajectory.

"A lot of guys out there, they've been wrestling for a long time," Menza said. "I feel like I'm starting strong as a high school athlete, and I'm doing everything I can to get better on the mat."

As a sophomore last season, Menza wrestled at 150 pounds in Niwot's regional tournament and finished just short of qualifying for the Class 4A state championships. He reached the consolation bracket semifinals at regionals and ultimately finished sixth in his weight class.

Menza's strong showing provided him with a needed dose of confidence.

"It proved to me that I could get on the path, it proved to me that I got the right idea," Menza said. "I just need to focus up and have a better mindset. A lot of people, you'll get out on the mat and you'll be really intimidated, but you've got to think they're just another person."

Now wrestling at 175, Menza believes he can compete for a spot in the state tournament.

"I feel confident," Menza said. "It all comes down to the nitty-gritty of conditioning. You're carrying your partner across the football field or you're doing all these lunges across the track and you think, 'Am I gonna drop my partner? Am I gonna drop my weight?' You lock in, and it's like, 'No, I can carry my partner. I can carry this weight. I can lift this weight. I can win this match.'"

Niwot's coaching staff, led by first-year head coach Michael DeCamillis, has also noticed Menza's rapid growth. Assistant Nik Blume believes the junior is trending toward a strong performance at regionals later this winter.

"Setting up shots has become a positive for him, and then his shot defense has gotten a lot better than it was last year," Blume said. "His record doesn't necessarily reflect the growth so far, but a lot of the season is left. As we get into the regionals, he definitely has a chance to make some noise. A podium there would be pretty great. It would be a huge step forward for him."

With hopes of studying engineering in college, Menza added that Blume has helped him learn the value of balancing academics and athletics.

"When you're getting good grades and you can tackle all your work in the classroom, it brings another level of confidence knowing that you've gotten all your work taken care of," Menza said. "You can square everything away and focus more on wrestling."

Menza, who is privately trained on the violin by NHS orchestra director Keynes Chen, also aims to continue playing the violin well past high school.